Ma Ji馬李

張超

As is known to everyone， Ma Ji is a famous Chinese crosstalk1 master and performing artist. He made great contributions to Chinas crosstalk development.

眾所周知，馬季是中國著名的相聲大師和表演藝術家。他為中國相聲的發展做出了巨大的貢獻。

Ma Ji was born in 1934 in Beijing. He was originally called Ma Shuhuai. For a time， he worked in a factory. He began to take an interest in crosstalk in 1951. In 1956， he entered the Central Broadcasting Recitation and Ballad Troupe as a professional crosstalk actor.

Ma Ji was good at performing new items reflecting real life. Apart from satires2， he pioneered new items praising the new life and heroes and heroines. He not only inherited3 and developed crosstalk of the Hou School （school of the master performer Hou Baolin） but also created his own art style.

Ma Ji performed traditional works well. Later， his creation and performance tended to better， and then he started writing. He wrote about 100 popular crosstalk works in his life， such as The Universal-brand Cigarette， The Telephone， Looking for Uncle and so on. The reason why people like his works is that his works express deep national feelings and reflect real life.

Ma Ji died of heart failure in Beijing on December 20， 2006， at the age of 72.

馬季，1934年出生于北京，原名馬樹槐。他過去在一家工廠做過工。1951年，他開始對相聲產生了濃厚的興趣。1956年，他調入中央廣播文工團說唱團成為一名專業相聲演員。

馬季擅長表演反映現實生活的相聲作品。除了相聲藝術長于諷刺的傳統之外，他開啟了以贊美新生活和新的英雄人物為主題的新作品。他不僅繼承并發展了侯派風格（侯寶林大師的風格），同時又創新出自己的風格。

馬季表演傳統的相聲作品非常成功。后來，他創作和表演趨于全面，并開始創作作品。他一生創作了百余篇膾炙人口的相聲作品，如《宇宙牌香煙》《打電話》《找舅舅》等。人們之所以喜歡他的相聲是因為他的相聲表達了濃厚的民族情感，并反映了現實生活。

2006年12月20日，馬季因突發心臟病醫治無效于北京逝世，享年72歲。